Russian authorities said Monday that they were expelling two British diplomats on suspicion of espionage, marking the latest incident in a string of expulsions that intensified late last year.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said it uncovered an “undeclared British intelligence presence” within the British Embassy in Moscow and accused the diplomats — identified as the embassy’s second secretary and the husband of the first secretary — of providing false information to obtain entry into Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry revoked their accreditations and ordered them to leave within two weeks, the FSB said in a statement. It added that an embassy representative had been summoned over the allegations.
Later on Monday, the British Embassy in Moscow dismissed the claims.
“The accusations made today by the Russian authorities against our staff and their dependent are entirely baseless,” the embassy said in a statement sent to The Moscow Times. “We will respond appropriately.”
Tensions between Russia and Britain have long been marked by intelligence disputes, including the 2006 poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London and the 2018 Novichok attack on ex-double agent Sergei Skripal, which led to mass diplomatic expulsions.
In September, Russian authorities stripped the accreditation of six British diplomats, accusing them of espionage and “threatening Russia’s security.” The British government rejected those accusations, calling them “completely baseless.”
Two months later, Russia again expelled a British Embassy employee on suspicion of spying, claiming that the diplomat was sent to Moscow to replace one of six embassy employees accused of spying in September.
AFP contributed reporting.
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